Simply Fresh Recipe Blog by Julie Wern

Julie Wern is a psychotherapist turned stay-at-home-mom turned health coach, cooking instructor, and food blogger. She is a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and the author of Holcomb Farm CSA’s Simply Fresh blog as well as a food and lifestyle blog, The Wholesome Gourmande. It is Julie’s passion to help individuals find their unique path to health without sacrificing joy and pleasure in food.

Feature Item—Tomatoes I think of tomatoes as the jewels of summer, especially with all the wonderful varieties currently available. They are colorful and so decadent.Technically a fruit, tomatoes are one of the most widely grown and consumed product in the US.Yet they are also the most diverse, with literally thousands of “heirloom” seed types. Heirloom …

Featured Item—Japanese Eggplant While many varieties and colors of eggplant exist, two general types are most familiar in the US.They are globe and Asian eggplants.Globe, or Italian eggplants, are large, oval-shaped and deep purple; whereas Asian eggplants tend to be long and thin, with a slightly lighter color.At Holcomb, Japanese eggplant, a variety of Asian …

Featured Item—Cucumbers There is something irresistible about the cool crunch of cucumber.Thus it is not surprising that cucumbers can be found in most major international cuisines. They are related to other members of the Gourd family, including melons and squash.Because they are comprised of about 95% water, they are quite refreshing and filling, even though …

Featured Item—Summer Squash You know it is truly summer when the summer squash is ready.It may be a familiar vegetable, but it is so plentiful this time of year that it is fun to come across new recipes and ideas. Summer squash is the generic term that encompasses the yellow and green squash varieties such …

Featured Item–Broccoli Broccoli is a highly popular vegetable in the United States, which makes it tough to write about.Because most folks like it they tend to know a lot about preparing it.So for many of you, this will simply be a refresher.However, I encourage you to look at the recipes, which might be a little …

Featured Item—Beets I can’t think of another vegetable that polarizes people more than beets. Folks tend to love them or hate them. I am one of those “odd birds” that fell in love with canned beets as a kid and have just grown fonder of the vegetable as I have experienced it in other culinary …

The beginning of the CSA season always brings a variety of greens.Last year I offered suggestions for the efficient use of the abundance of CSA greens.I thought I would reprint that here. CSA General Tip–Make it a “Greens Day” A great way to use up those greens up is to plan a “Greens Day” for …

Featured Item—Pac Choi This week’s featured vegetable is a fun one for me.A few years back, I was one of those people that ran from anything that ended in choi.But I could not be a bigger fan of this special vegetable than I am now.Pac choi, also known as Bok Choy, is a part of …